Generally, ships are designed and furnished such that an internal space is partitioned into a machine room, a pump room, cabins, and a warehouse inside a hull according to various purposes. Such ships must be prepared for sinking attributable to external influences. In particular, ships corresponding to large-sized passenger vessels that are boarded by many people are equipped with small lifeboats, safety gears, etc.
More specifically, such a large-sized passenger vessel is a large-sized cruise vessel, and is mainly operated in a large river or sea. A large-sized passenger vessel is operated in the state in which it has been furnished with not only cabins for passengers but also many public areas, such as a restaurant, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, and a social intercourse space.
In particular, a cabin of a passenger vessel is furnished with a bed, a simple wardrobe, and home appliances, such as a TV set, and provides a space for enjoying stay without causing damage to other people. Cabins are disposed on the left and right sides of a hull and a deck in layers, are divided according to their class in a cabin part, and provide accommodations where passengers can stay.
A passenger vessel that travels along a predetermined path in a river or sea may experience an unexpected accident, such as a collision or stranding, due to an engine failure or severe weather conditions. In the case of accidental sinking of the passenger vessel attributable to a failure to cope with such an accident, when the seawater is flooded into one hull within a short period of time, a problem may arise in that the vessel sinks due to the occurrence of an unbalanced flooding phenomenon in spite of a minor accident.
In preparation for the above-described problem, lifeboats are provided so that all passengers on the passenger vessel can escape using the lifeboats at the last moment in an emergency, and a number of life vests are present so that the passengers can individually wear the life vests. However, even when passengers escape the passenger vessel and rush to the river or sea in an emergency situation and equipments for protecting human lives are provided, there are many cases where passengers cannot withstand long and are dead due to hypothermia resulting from the low temperature of the seawater.
Moreover, in the case where the passenger vessel is rapidly tilted in any one direction and then sinks as in a sinking accident having occurred in Korea in April of 2014, hallways as well as cabins are tilted at the same time. Accordingly, a problem arises in that a large-scale deadly accident occurs because it is difficult to move fast for evacuation and escape routes are blocked by flooding water and thus passengers cannot come up on a deck.
In particular, when water rises up on the vessel, the vessel is tilted to one side first, finally there occurs a capsize phenomenon in which a ship is completely inverted by 180 degrees, and then the vessel sinks. Accordingly, there occurs a serious difficulty in rescuing people.